TeachersFirst's First Day of School Icebreakers

No matter what level you teach, establishing rapport with a new group of students is key to knowing how to help them learn. Here is a list of reviewed resources that offer a chance for you and your students to get to know one another.

"Draw" a flower from the visual text of a single word using this simple Japanese tool. The basic tools are labeled in English. Browse the Gallery to see examples, including this one our editors made using the word "teaching." Click +draw to make your own. Enter a single, short word and choose options such as font and color scheme. Give it a name, and it will be added to the Gallery. There are other sharing options for the designs you make, but many are labeled in Japanese! If you click to open it from the Gallery, you can copy its direct url from your address bar to save as a Favorite or share with others. Turn off autoplay in the Gallery to keep your design on the screen. Roll your mouse over a design (or tap it on a tablet) to make it spin! You can share to Facebook and Pinterest directly. The easiest way to share is by saving the url or by taking a screenshot of your finished design (Printscrn button on Windows or Command+Shift+4 on Mac). You also have the option to actually print. Note that the gallery could have word designs that may be in other languages or possibly be inappropriate for young people. Our editors found nothing objectionable at the time of this review. Preview to be safe. Click the sound on/off option in the footer to turn off the music as you enjoy the site.

In the Classroom

Demonstrate radial symmetry in an art or math class using this tool. As you teach letter shapes in kindergartens, try making a design to help your students see the shape in this colorful format. If you teach about fonts in an art or graphic design class, this tool can spark discussion about the design elements of letter forms. An idea for elementary or middle school teachers: Have students create "flowers" of their own names (or shortened nicknames) as a getting to know you activity during the first week of school. Post the design screenshot images on your class web page or print them to put in the hallway.

Manage and track behavior with LiveSchool's behavior point system. Free accounts allow up to five users to award points, leave and view comments, and withdraw points for "purchases" from any device. Print weekly reports for parents with day by day records of points earned or lost, comments with teachers' names, behaviors observed, and cumulative totals of points earned.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Consider using this program to reward a group of the week. Award points for positive behaviors such as participating, creating, working hard, and helping others. Using LiveSchool for group behaviors will give immediate feedback to groups when projected on your whiteboard or your projector. Use this tool to help less focused students stay on task. Share this site with students on the first day of school as you go over class expectations and your behavior plan for your classroom. Use LiveSchool to offer both negative and positive feedback to parents and students.

Use LiveSchool to privately keep track of learning or emotional support student behaviors and send a report to their special education teachers and/or parents. This tool could be invaluable to the life skills, autistic support, gifted, or emotional support teacher who needs to track the behavior of each of the students as part of an IEP, GIEP, or behavior plan. Alternative Ed. programs may find this tool very useful, even up through high school.

Moovly is a wonderful animation tool for creating videos and presentations. Create an account with your email and watch the two-minute video about how to use this tool. Click on "New Moov" to begin. Give your Moov a title and description then choose from templates offered or create your own Moov from scratch. Modify slides text, font, image holders, and props. Preview your creation at any time with the play button. Stop and make changes as needed. Upload sounds from your computer in MP3 format: voice, music, or noises. These can be used in parallel, or click the microphone to record your voice. You can also make your Moovly interactive by using Flash. Save and share via YouTube, Facebook, email. You can also download to your computer using mp4 (video) or swf format. Download the 28-page PDF guide for step-by-step directions and answers to specific questions. Emailing customer support will get you answers within 24 hours. Free accounts can create unlimited videos that are each ten minutes long. The free account allows for 100MB or 20 items in their storage.

In the Classroom

Challenge older students to create their own Moovs. Students can use Moovly to share their ideas or to "prototype" an idea. Students can create videos to show math processes, explanations of complex concepts, review new learning, teach others, explain scientific processes, tell stories, or present research. Flip your classroom using Moovly presentations. Use Moovly to create teacher-authored animations for students in ANY grade. This is a great way to present new information or ideas for discussion. It is an easy way to prepare information for the class when a substitute is coming. Embed Moovly creations on your website or blog for students to review at home. Use a Moovly video on the first day of school to explain class rules or give an exciting introduction to the year ahead. Use Moovly to create movies or presentations for back to school night or conference nights to display on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Teacher-librarians can ask students to create Moovly book reviews to share kiosk style in the library/media center.

The first three weeks of school set the tone for the entire year. Even if you didn't have a "great" first day (or week) of school, there is still time to change the mood of your classroom! This list provides many suggestions for getting off to a great start. Although created for college teachers, most content is appropriate for all grade levels. Scroll through each section to find ideas for transitioning to a new grade level, keeping students' attention, providing support, building community, and much more. Although this site is rather "plain vanilla" it is packed full of wonderful "sprinkles" to start your year off great!

In the Classroom

Use ideas from this site during back to school staff meetings to motivate teachers as they begin a new year. Share it with your student teacher before he.she gets started. Challenge yourself and other department members to check off as many items on the list as you can. Keep this list up on your computer as a reminder through the day. Revisit this site each year as a reminder of starting each school year on the right foot! Why not bookmark this site (or save in your favorites), so it is easy to find each year.

PowToon is an amazing, free, animated presentation tool. Choose from one of many templates available to edit, or start from scratch. Then start making magic! Label your title and description. Modify slides by changing text, font, image holders, and props. Preview your creation at any time with the play button. Stop and make changes as needed. Change styles easily by choosing a different style within the program. Select from the royalty free music options offered by Powtoon to enhance your presentation. Share the finished presentation via social media buttons on your page to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other popular pages or export to YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then using YouTube may not be your best option. Use the embed code provided to easily embed in your website or blog -- or simply share your Powtoon using the URL provided. Exports are not included with the free membership plan. Email is required to register and use Powtoon.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Challenge older students to create their own PowToons. Students can use PowToon to share their ideas or to "prototype" an idea. Students can create videos to show math processes, explanations of complex concepts, review new learning, teach others, explain scientific processes, tell stories, or present research. The possibilities are really endless, and students will come up with hundreds more uses. Flip your classroom using PowToon presentations. Use PowToon to create teacher-authored animations for students in ANY grade. This is a great way to present new information or ideas for discussion. It is an easy way to share information with the class when a substitute is in your classroom. Embed your PowToon creations on your website or blog for students to review at home. Use a PowToon on the first day of school to explain class rules or give an exciting introduction to the year ahead. Use PowToon to create movies or presentations for back to school night or conference nights to display on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Teacher-librarians can ask students to create PowToon book reviews to share kiosk style in the library/media center.

Calling all Frankenstein scientists (and artists) to create a monster! Create your own creatures by choosing from faces, eyes, mouth, nose, hair, eyebrows, legs, arms, skin, clothes, and more! Give your monster a name, and you are done. Share using various social networks or email. You can also easily save your monster to your own computer.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share how to use this engaging site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students create and share their monster creature as an icebreaker activity. In language arts classes, use monsters as an avatar in introducing lesson concepts, reviewing, and questioning sessions. Create stories featuring the students' monsters! Monsters can give summary reviews of correct or incorrect information. Create multimedia stories describing the monsters using UTellStory (reviewed here). Have students present information using their creatures using a site such as Yodio (reviewed here). Create Halloween fun monsters galore! As a class incentive, earn monsters as a reward system for academic achievement or behavior. In science create monsters suited to different habitats, predators, jobs, or adaptations. Create monsters during the first week of school for students to introduce themselves, and post them on your class wiki along with their explanations.

Design and create beautiful images from quotes using Quotes Cover. Copy and paste any quote into the toolbar. Follow the steps along the way. Choose from e-cards, wallpaper maker, prints for posters, and other options. The print section offers many size options from business cards to large posters. Edit and personalize using tools provided such as fonts, colors, custom background pictures, and drawing tools. You can download the finished image as a png file or share it on various social networks.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Create posters with students' favorite quotes, book titles for a bulletin board, All About Me information, or whatever your imagination produces! Have students include a poster as part of a research project or choose a favorite quote from class reading materials to "cover" a book talk. Create a poster with a quote from any figure in history and personalize it using Creative Commons images. In primary grades enter sight words and other basic vocabulary to create word posters. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Wikimedia Commons, reviewed here. Have students create a poster for Back to School night to share with parents. Use this tool for students to make posters of the class rules they agree upon during the first week of school. Create quote images to use as Facebook "cover" photos for a famous person or fictitious character. Locate inspiring quotes from Quotesome, reviewed here, to use with this tool. World language teachers and students can create clever vocabulary or sentence posters to help master the new language.

Explore this eclectic mix of activities, most available online. All are designed to work on an interactive whiteboard. Some of the topics include Me Maker, Skeletons and Life Cycles, Advent Calendar, Chinese New Year Red Pocket, Shadow Simulator, Cobweb Creator, Help Me ID, Singing Science (there are a few of these), and much more! Choose the icon to the left of each description to load the activity, or use the download button to download as a zip file for use. This site was created in the United Kingdom. American English speakers may notice some slight differences in spelling.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site for use throughout the year. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use activities on your interactive whiteboard for time fillers, story starters, and center time. Use the "Me Maker" for students to introduce themselves at the beginning of the school year or for use with your Student of the Week. Several activities include printables to print and use for centers and homework. Use the "Help Me ID Cards" as an excellent resource for your community helpers unit. Be sure to check out the many seasonal activities.

The Cube Creator offers four different options for creating and personalizing a printable cube for summarizing or story-telling: Bio Cube, Mystery Cube, Story Cube, or Create your Own Cube. Follow prompts to create the cube. The planning sheets help you collect information before making the actual printable cube. Once you have entered all your information, print and follow directions to assemble the paper cube. Follow links to find lessons that use this interactive as well as suggestions for other uses. There are lessons for grades 3-4 up through grades 11-12. Note: Read Write Think has added the capability for students to save their work to continue later. In the last paragraph of the Overview, there is a link to watch the video: Saving Work With the Student Interactives.

In the Classroom

Use the Cube Creator for virtually any lesson or activity. Try printing on heavier card stock so cubes are durable. Create a cube to practice math problems, describe habitats, outline important story events, and much more. Have students create a cube and share with other students to practice retelling, summarizing, adding synonyms, or review for tests. Have each of your students create an All About Me cube for parents to view at Open House or to get to know each other during the first week of school. Have others guess which cube belongs to which classmate. Create a cube review game where others must answer the question that comes up when you "roll" the cube. The possibilities are endless. Challenge your gifted student(s) to create a "Who Am I?" cube about a famous person they research. Use the Bio Cube option with one variation: DO NOT include the person's real name. Share the cube as a game for the rest of the class to guess (and then create their own similar cubes). Your gifted students may also come up with new ways to Create Your Own Cube that could become a class game! Invite them to try their creativity.

Create a fake tweet and Twitter wall quickly and easily by entering minimal information. Enter a (fake) user name, full name of the person you are impersonating, your tweet, and a date to show on the tweet. Your tweet will appear on a wall with an image of that person ready to share through links provided at the bottom of the page. Twister also includes several ideas for consideration when creating an update such as possible hashtags and most important moments to include. Share via social networks or simply COPY the url of your finished Twister page to share it. There is also an option to save as pdf for easy printing.

In the Classroom

Share examples found at this site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to demonstrate possible uses. This site is wonderful for creating interest in many subjects. It is perfect for the social studies classroom as a quick end of class review or homework assignment to summarize each day's lesson. Write about presidents, founding fathers, famous scientists or artists, a Civil War soldier, and much more. Use Twister to study literature, create an update for the central character, book's author, or the setting of the book or play. For a unique twist in science class, create a Twister update for a periodic element or another science topic. Use the update to describe "the life" of that atom or element. The possibilities within the classroom are endless (as is the creativity and motivation)! In World language classes, have students do this activity (about themselves) in the new language they are learning. Create a Twister update for the first day of school to introduce yourself to students or at Open House for parents. In the media center, have students create twister pages for authors or about favorite books. Challenge students to create and share an update about themselves during the first week of school.

Diamonds are forever and so are diamante poems created on this free site. This is a great tool to shape up your poets through the structure of a 7 lined diamante poem. Learn about the diamond-shaped poems that use specific types of words for each line. Rhyming isn't needed, but needn't be impeded. Describe a central topic or two opposing topics like night and day. View the examples before creating your poem. Each screen provides an organizer for any poet to complete. Click on the parts of speech for definitions while composing poems. Edit your poem, if needed, before printing, downloading it as a PDF, or sharing through email. Save your draft to continue at a later date. This site is a must during poetry month in April.

In the Classroom

Diamante poems are a fun format to write about a single topic or to compare/contrast two topics. Review parts of speech and then apply these concepts with writing diamante poems. Work the idea of cause and effect into the diamante poem format for a challenging activity with your poets. Provide students with diamante poems with a few words missing and have them fill in the blanks to complete the poem. Compare or contrast text passages for any subject area or use the diamante format to summarize a selection. Provide your students with images, and have them write diamante poems about the images. Make homemade greeting cards with your students to give using this format of poetry or write "about me" poems using this tool at the start of school.

This recording of an OK2Ask online professional development session from August 2013, opens in Adobe Connect. School Year KickOff 2013: Get off to a great start with TeachersFirst's ready to go lessons, interactives, and professional resources. Discover all of the "ready to go" resources available at TeachersFirst. Explore the Professional Resources, TeachersFirst Exclusives, and some of our favorite back to school "time savers." Find inspiration for new teaching strategies in this fast-paced session!

As a result of this session and through individual follow-up, teachers will: Explore the various Professional Resources available at TeachersFirst: differentiating, rubrics, working with parents, wikis, blogs, and more; Browse and explore the various ready to go lesson plans and units created by TeachersFirst; Find some back to school time savers for both students and teachers; Have free exploration time to find materials relevant to his/her classroom needs; and (Follow-up) Plan and implement a student-centered, curriculum-related use of the resource(s) of choice as part of an upcoming teaching unit. Or plan how to use the professional resources to prepare for the new school year. Applicable NETS-T standards (2008)*: 1b, 2a and b, 3d - Please read the full text at ISTE's NETS-T page

In the Classroom

Ready or not - here it come... The first day of school! View this archived webinar to get energized, new ideas, and support. Find ready to go resources to save you time. Learn about online tools (again, saving you time). Don't miss this Kickoff session full of great ideas. Take a look at the resource page full of GREAT ideas! Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.

HappyClass is a FREE automatic classroom seating chart maker. HappyClass creates charts in minutes based on your students' needs and relationships. Type or paste your class roster into the website and configure the virtual desks to look like your physical classroom. The contextual menu provides options to make sure relationship factors are prioritized as well as student needs (like front or back of the room). Need a student to stay in the same seat? Pin them to the seat (not literally of course!). Edit each student's unique needs at any time as your students change throughout the year. The happiness indicator automatically determines if the student is sitting in an ideal situation. A smiley face means all is well, a so-so face means it could work, and an uh-oh face means the current seating configuration could lead to a negative classroom environment. Seating chart results are immediate with one click of a button. Not happy? Generate a completely new configuration with another click. Print your chart in a snap for your lesson plan book. The free version (Lite) includes an unlimited number of students in one editable class roster and one room setup at a time. You can add, edits or delete students, rearrange the room, or change relationships and needs of that one class over and over. The freebie limits make this well suited for self-contained classes, not teachers who see different classes throughout the day.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

HappyClass is a great site to make sure seating preferences in IEPs /504 plans are met even before the first day of school. Create differentiated cooperative learning groups throughout the day in seconds. Printing charts is quick and easy. Change the configuration of your room by dragging and dropping desks. Clear the chart and start from scratch. More time to focus on instruction! Save this in your "back to school" online files!

Don't remember how to play certain games or need to find some new ideas? This is the site for you! How Do You Play contains instructions for many classroom-friendly games and activities. Choose from categories of active games, board games, classroom games, icebreakers, sports, and many more. Find instructions and information for great icebreaker questions/games, how to build the tallest tower, playing spoons, how to play a photo scavenger hunt, egg drop with teambuilding, life timelines, and much more. Each game or activity includes a list of materials needed, number of players, time required, and directions for play. Some directions for strategy games also include strategy options. Although many of the games seem juvenile, the team building and icebreaker options are even good for adults.

In the Classroom

Use this site to find games and activities for classroom centers or review activities. Icebreaker activities include options for the first week of school community building. Bookmark this tool for the first week of school or anytime that you want to experience some "team-building" in your class. This is a great site to use if you have weekly classroom meetings to build relationships among students. Share this site with students and have them create their own games based on research projects or as review for major tests. Challenge students to describe their "creations" using the models shown on this site. Share this site with parent helpers to find ideas for classroom parties.

Inspire yourself and your students with Windows to the Universe Motivational Quotes. Although a rather simple site in appearance, there is a lot of "good stuff" here. Add creativity, encouragement, and an atmosphere of excellence to your classroom and your life.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Post in the signature on your email, on your website, or even on your whiteboard! Encourage leadership, hope, and inspiration! Use quotes as a theme for writing prompts or even to relate to the theme of a story. Use the quotes as examples of figurative language. Add quotes to end of year picture CDs/DVDs. Use the quotes to inspire personal or classroom mission statements. Have students include a quote when turning in work, and explain how it inspired or helped them. Add music or art to explain a quote. During the first week of the school year, share this site with students. Challenge students to choose a "quote of the year" for themselves personally. Have students put the quote in their notebook, folder, or as a screen saver. Also, choose a few quotes to hang around your classroom. If you need more quotes, check out TeachersFirst's Bulletin Board Hangups.

Use this tool to find current weather for any location. The site senses your current location, or you can enter one. Find out your seven day forecast. But there is more: go back in time to explore weather for any location on any previous date. Explore what the temperature was the day you were born, the first day of school this year, or any other time. Dates go back as far as 1945. View current temperatures and forecast by adding a location to the search bar or choose the time machine to go back in time to view weather at that location for any date. View the hourly temperature along with wind speed, humidity, and visibility. Choose either Fahrenheit or Celsius displays.

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Use Forecast as an interesting addition to any history lesson. Choose the location and date that you are studying to find what the actual weather was at that time. Dates go back as far as 1945. Have students debate the impact of weather on historical events. What was the temperature in Dallas on the day JFK was assassinated? The possibilities are endless! Have students compare temperatures from different years during your weather unit, then create an online graph using Amblegraph (reviewed here). Have students research climate change questions using actual data from this site.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site for easy image editing for you and your students for any classroom projects. No registration is required, and images are saved directly to your computer for immediate use. Make simple reminder posters or classroom signs using the text emboss tool. Invite students to create image/text combinations for bulletin boards, such as types of leaves or insects. Make introductions of students as a first day of school activity using digital pictures and the text tool.

Tackk is a new way for sharing and creating web content. It is almost like designing a one page web site. Start with an image or idea, NO membership required (for short term pages). Personalize the look of your content using the editor to change colors, fonts, and background. You can also add tags. Choose from themes on the left to begin customization or just click on different portions of the page to upload a picture, edit your title, and write a description. Add additional information using links provided. Paste a link to your Youtube, Vimeo, Hulu, Instagram, or Soundcloud to embed songs, photos, and more. Sign up isn't required. However, your Tackk will only be available for a week if not registered on the site. Free registration allows multiple Tackks, available indefinitely. Savvy users can make a Tackk private (i.e. hidden from search engines), password protect your Tackks, add tags, and even collect them into Tackkboards by tag -- very handy for seeing a full class's work simply by having students use the same tag. Click the word Tackk then on the FAQ in the footer of the page to learn how to do all of these and more! Share completed Tackks using social media links at the bottom of the page or via the unique url created and available at the top of the page. People who wish to comment must do so using an account on Facebook or other social media, so the commenting feature is somewhat limited.

In the Classroom

Share any short term announcement visually without joining or set up a class account for all to use. One of the options when you click "Create" is Class Assignment! If students have email, they can set up individual accounts. Have students create a Tackk instead of a book report. Have students copy a story into Tackk and expand using multimedia and photos. Have students make Tackks as online posters advertising healthy eating or reminding others about grammar rules. Create a Tackk to introduce any unit. Use it to compile review materials; then share the link on your classroom website. Have students create a Tackk for upcoming book fairs, math or science night, or any school activity then print the finished items for display around the classroom or school. As a back to school introduction, make a cooperative Tackk of class rules or allow students to make a Tackk introducing themselves without a photo. Have others try to match the Tackks to their classmates.

Create a "fake" Facebook-style page for anyone or anything! No membership required! Give your page a title and add an image from your computer. (They insert an image for you if you do not select one.) Of course you will need to use a Creative Commons or other copyright-safe image. You can also use autoselect from a websearch, edit the profile, and your page is almost ready. You must add at least one post and one friend to save work. Choose "save" from the options on top right side of the page, enter a password, and your unique url for your Fakebook page appears. Be sure to copy and save this link as it is the only time it is given in the setup process. Here is an example created in less than a minute. Page creation is quick and easy with a small learning curve. Flash is needed only to watch the introduction video, not use the site/tool. There is a downloadable Word doc "startup guide" for those who prefer written, illustrated directions.This site includes advertising.

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Engage and create interest in classroom learning with Fakebook. This site is wonderful for creating interest in many subjects. In Social Studies, instead of a typical biographical report have students create a Fakebook page about their famous person. Write about presidents, founding fathers, famous scientists or artist, a civil war soldier, and much more. Have students create a timeline of any historical event (the page should be named for the event). Use Fakebook to outline the plot of a book, play, or film, then share with students while studying the material. To use Fakebook to study literature, create a page for the central character, book's author, or the setting of the book or play. For a unique twist is science class, create a Fakebook page for a periodic element or another science topic. Use the page to describe "the life" of that atom or element. In World language classes, have students do this activity (about themselves) in the second language they are learning. Create a Fakebook page for the first day of school to introduce yourself to students or at Open House for parents. Challenge students to create and share a page about themselves during the first week of school. Share a Fakebook page with students to demonstrate proper netiquette and social sharing. Be sure to share a rubric with students for all expectations of what should be included on their page. Make Fakebook one of the options for your gifted students doing projects beyond the regular curriculum. With no membership required, this tool is simple enough for younger gifted students who have parent permission to post work to the web. We could pretend that they do not know what Facebook looks like, but we would be deluding ourselves!

Teach Preschool is a delightful blog filled with activities for teaching preschoolers (and primary grades). Updated often, the blog articles include activities, classroom images, and practical suggestions. Choose from topics for exploration including: Powered by Play, Exploring Books, or Exploring Art. Use the search bar to look for specific content, explore recent posts, or browse monthly archives. Another way to explore is using the icons on the left side of the page. Although geared toward preschool, this site is worth a visit for anyone interested in educating young children.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Search the site for ideas. Save them to your Pinterest account (reviewed here) to find for later use. Bookmark the site as a resource for teaching ideas. Subscribe to this blog via Facebook, Twitter, or email to receive the latest blog updates.